Upon Reflection: Week 5
On Small Choices and Ripples of Good
My 7 year old burst into the kitchen. “Mom, you have to have this book on your podcast.”
“Oh yeah? Why is that?”
He launched into a passionate and somewhat disconnected retelling of The Littlest Drop – a new book that had arrived only days before, courtesy of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. As I listened to him describe a small hummingbird’s brave choice to do what she could to save her nest in the face of a wild, raging fire, I wondered what this had to do with my podcast. Then I realized. He had been inspired.
One of the true joys of this passion project has been the ways my children have taken interest and caught the vision. It is not uncommon for them to witness a kind act and immediately turn to me and say “Mom, you should have them on your podcast.”
Just this past week, I took my youngest three to the park to fish and we met a new friend named Mr. Bryan. Mr. Bryan must have been watching as my second born attempted again and again to catch a fish to no avail.
“You’ve got to use live bait” a man said as he walked towards us. “Here; you can have one of my worms. They love these worms.” (this man, we later found out, was named Bryan)
No sooner had my son threaded the hook than he caught his first fish. This triumph was soon followed by another and then another. Before we knew it, he had caught 8 fish and had no small crowd watching and clamoring to be the one to throw the fish back into the water.
“I wish I had a sticker with me to give him!” I said. (I typically carry around THANKS for doing that stickers and dispense them as needed).
“What if we invited him onto the podcast? He was so kind to give me that worm.” my son replied.
I must say that I was warm to the idea. I love to get to know people and I wanted to ask this man why he came to the park twice a day to fish, what prompted him to approach our family, how he learned to fish in the first place, etc. We decided to wait on extending the invite but my heart was delighted by my children’s earnest desire to see and celebrate this man for the seemingly small choice he made to share his worms.
Just as my 7 year old had been inspired by The Littlest Drop, my 10 year old had been inspired by Mr. Bryan. The beautiful thing about being inspired is that it often prompts action which then creates ripples of good that reach far beyond our own moment and interests. In the children’s book, the hummingbird’s choice started a ripple through the other forest animals until all were doing their small part to put out the fire. Any adult reading the story knows that the fire would not have gone out as a result of the small bird’s efforts alone; but, the fire went out because the little bird made that first, almost insignificantly small choice.
My other son immediately started passing along the kindness of Mr. Bryan. As each curious child approached him to see what he was doing and learn to fish for themselves, my son shared some advice: “...use live bait. You almost can’t get it cast before you catch something!”
The things we do matter. The reasons we do them matter. I say this so much that I likely sound like a broken record to those that know me.
As I reflected on these small moments of inspiration and generosity, I found myself thinking about another conversation from the week—one that highlighted the same principle from a very different angle.
Last week, as I wrote previously, we gathered for my son’s birthday. You may also know from my prior writing that I had a lovely discussion with my cousin about her garden. It was gratifying to talk about the growth happening and anticipate the bounty to come.
My conversation with her husband, however, was a bit more sobering. He works for a local non-profit organization that serves the least of these in our community. This is their mission statement:
We are committed to helping people who are experiencing homelessness and addiction in our city change their lives. Thanks to the support of friends like you, we meet their needs through meals, shelter, and long-term, life-changing programs.
Knowing that the organization was in the final stages of some new facilities to aid in their efforts, I asked how things were at work. His response was full of gratitude; but, also, lament. Due to lack of funding, long established and effective programs were being cut. Though there are likely many factors at play, one observable trend is that our generation (Millennials) are not matching prior generations in their generous giving.
As I said, there are likely many, nuanced factors at play; however, the reality is that, for one reason or another, our community is choosing not to invest in this organization. That makes me curious. It also highlights that the small choices made in households throughout our city do actually matter.
A quick google search for the population of my city indicates that we have roughly 171,700 residents in the city limits. If each resident gave just $10 a month, the organization would receive more than $1.7 million each month. The cumulative effect would be staggering.
This quick math isn’t trying to force a donation. I simply offer it to show the ripple effects from small choices. My little household giving $60 ($10 per person) doesn’t feel like much; but in the greater picture, it sure adds up.
As I consider the ideas I encountered this week alongside these experiences, I am struck by how much the ordinary moments helped illuminate the larger lessons. I invite you to pull up a chair, sit at my table, and look over this week’s offering with that in mind:
The Feast
Books
Holy Hygge (Chapter 5: Comfort) by Jamie Erickson
Still Life by Megan Huwa
The Littlest Drop by Sascha Alper, Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney
The Art of Living in Season by Sylvie Vanhoozer
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
Luke 20-22
Podcasts & Sermons
Raising Boys and Girls Ep 384: Capable Connections: Mothers and Sons
The Habit Podcast: Sarah Clarkson Gets Quiet
Dream Big with Bob Goff: Your Desired Future with Dr. Henry Cloud
No Small Endeavour: Marisa Renee Lee on Grief, Uncertainty, and the Work of Realistic Hope
Jennie Allen Podcast: How to Stop Feeling Alone with Ann Voskamp
The Chewing
Living present really matters. The constant connection and input is continuously disrupting the quiet. Lord, what do I need to evaluate and change as regards my own protections of quiet?
“Boys build capability not just by being told what to do, but by seeing it modeled in one of the people they trust most in the world.” (From Raising Boys & Girls: Episode 384: Capable Connections: Mothers and Sons with David and Sissy, Jun 16, 2026)
“Warm parenting, warmth from us in our responses to them, helps kids regulate better over time and warmth paired with appropriate behavioral control, meaning consequences and boundaries, predicts healthier emotional outcomes than either harshness or chaos ever does.” (From Raising Boys & Girls: Episode 384: Capable Connections: Mothers and Sons with David and Sissy, Jun 16, 2026)
“I have discovered that poetry is a profound vehicle for remembering and beholding…I have tended to these poems like a painter and a farmer – quietly, in solitude, facing the sun and rain, nurturing any life that may break through the soil, weeping at the feet of fall, and reveling in the life that is and lies ahead.” -Megan Huwa in the introduction to Still Life
“Sometimes in God’s love for us, He walks us through the bleakness of winters,not around it. He knows that in our emotional poverty, we will lean harder, cling tighter, trust longer while sitting in pain than in pleasure. Our winters will make us desperate for Him and the comfort only he can provide…
…The “making of all things new” is sometimes a slow process. Spring won’t happen overnight, but it will be happening overnight.” pages 134, 135 in Holy Hygge“But watch yourselves lest your heart be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and care of this life…” (Luke 22:34). I thought of this as apathy (dissipation), numbing (drunkenness), and anxiety (cares of this life). We inevitably feel all of these things but it’s in the small act of turning from these things again and again that we find ourselves moving towards Life.
“Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
From my journal: I have sometimes thought of Judas as being approached and convinced to betray Jesus but this account doesn’t leave much room for that. What does it mean that Satan entered? Was Judas angry or bitter and that was a foothold or entry point? It said Judas “consented.” A willing choice of agency. A choice made in a moment but, reading further, we understand was deeply regretted.
The Green Leaf
Small choices matter.
Protecting quiet. How I show up and respond to my kids. Stopping to write the poem that comes to mind - to behold and capture the experience. Choosing to trust that spring will come while in the bleak of winter. Not acting out of a big feeling at the moment.
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Annie Dillard
I want to, more and more, align my small, everyday choices with the vision of the life I desire – a life that believes it matters and can create ripples of good.
The Integration
I’d like to take some time at the end of the day to reflect on a few choices I made that day (for better or worse) and imagine what might happen if those choices had a ripple into future days. I have a few questions to consider in this:
What kind of fruit would it bear out?
What would it show as important?
What impact does this have on those around me?
The world needs a Mr. Bryan! Love this! And I love your boys' infectious spirit to THANK and SEE those around them.